Kelly Ripa and Pat Sajak talk labor on LIVE

Today on LIVE with Regis and Kelly, Kelly Ripa and guest co-host Pat Sajak talked labor, doulas and contractions. When Pat noticed there was a pregnant woman in the audience, he sparked up a conversation with Kelly, saying,

I was there for the birth of my two children and it was the most fabulous event of my life but frankly, I would have rather been in the other room with a cigar.

Kelly then replied,

You know, I didn’t want Mark to say a word. Ok, they hook you up to a monitor that shows you when you’re having a contraction. But as women, you don’t need people to tell you that and Mark would say clever things like ‘You’re having a contraction now,’ and I would be like ‘Ya think? Ya think I’m having one, do ya? Huh?’

To which Pat had a humorous reply that many fathers could probably relate to.

Well, there’s just a lot of yelling. We’re treated like Satan in the room.

Pat went on to ask Kelly what type of techniques she used to help through the labor of her three children. Kelly explained that she had to have a surprise c-section with her first child, Michael, 9, and was hoping for a natural birth with her second, Lola, 5. Kelly jokingly said,

We used a Doula with the second pregnancy. We did breathing exercises, we focused on things, we focused on getting Mark out of the room. I said to Mark, ‘I don’t want you seeing any of that, it might change your whole vision of me.’

Pat then asked if she seriously enjoyed having Mark there and Kelly said, "Yes, he did comfort me."

In addition to Michael and Lola, Kelly and Mark also have another son named Joaquin, 4. Pat and his wife Lesly have two children, Michael, 16, and Maggie, 12.

LMAO. Kelly’s hilarious, and I especially loved when she mentioned how she and the Doula were conspiring to get Mark out of the room, then when Pat made mention of the wives treating the men like Satan. Too funny!🙂

mrsgrugsplat
on April 10th, 2007

Man I had my Mum and Dad for my first child as the father wasent there but the second time around I dislocated the thumb of my husband I was in so much pain payback

Cristina
on April 11th, 2007

By accident I did. When I was in labor with my first child I was only in labor for six hours and I only spent one of them at the hospital so that meant I didn’t get the epidural I was hoping for. I was laying on my side while my husband rubbed my back. During a contraction I went to grab his shoulder for support but it turns out I grabbed him by his neck. So for the entire minute the contraction lasted I was choking my poor husband.

Mama Llama
on April 11th, 2007

I didn’t treat my DH like Satan, but I do remember him announcing every contraction like it was the pizza delivery man: “Here’s another contraction!”. Even more frustrating was the way he’d rate them for me: “Oh wow! This is a BIG one!” (just in case I wasn’t aware of how big they were). And finally, my favorite Captain Obvious comment “My God! They (the contractions) just keep getting bigger and bigger, don’t they?”.

I swear, he is an intelligent, highly educated man, but he was just overwhelmed, and I really believe he thought he was contributing to the whole process.

tink1217
on April 11th, 2007

well, with my first my ex husband actually fell asleep while I was in labor and it really ticked me off I yelled at him to get out! My 2nd was a scheduled csection. He was there, but not really by my choice. I could have told him to leave, I guess. Afterwards, he brought his girlfriend to the hospital to see our son and I didn’t find out til weeks later. I would have flipped!!

Ronins Mommy
on April 11th, 2007

My husband was my birthing coach. We had our baby in a birth clinic au naturel (including no ultrasounds). He and I were so in-sync and at peace with our birth that I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having him there made our daughter’s birth that more amazing. He got in the bath with me, breathed with me, counted my contractions, cut the cord…he was awesome!!

vbwilmoth
on April 11th, 2007

Actually my DH was my #1 supporter. I let my mom be there simply b/c I wanted her to see that moment but if I could only have had DH I would have been fine. He knew what to do before I even said anything it seemed. On our 3rd baby the nurse, which we’d had for all 3 boys, kept telling the Dr what a fabulous birthing couple we were etc. Lol So no, I didn’t treat him like Satan. He was my rock and the reason I didn’t need to use drugs or an epidural. And the tears he cried when each one of our boys were born was enough to melt my heart. We’ve been married 7 years, together 10. You don’t have to be hateful to your Dh while in labor, he’s not the only one responsible for your “condition”.

my husband was obsessed with the moniter, too… and with trying to get a look at the baby, once it had crowned.

I think those are the parts Men can understand… they can see what is happening on a moniter… but they can’t feel you having the pain…. they can see when the baby finally starts to come, but don’t always know how to help you when you’re coughing and trying to push and in pain (July… heavy pollen count… me huge and pg with allergies… I was wheezing and congested from it)

I wouldn’t have told him to get out… I loved that he was there and he was excited, but I told everyone afterward (including the doc who had the nerve to question why I would be comfortable with my MIL in the delivery room right there, holding one of my legs and being able to see EVERYTHING)

That if I could only have ONE person in the delivery room with me when I had any/all of my babies, but especially that one (my first vaginal birth), I wanted my MIL… not only had she had 5 babies and seen/experienced about everything, but she was like a doula would be… she was a LPN, so she’d been a nurse, she was sympathetic to my pain, but practical, urging me to breathe, telling me to get tough and just push instead of complaining about how hard it was and the fact that (because my epidural worked too well) I couldn’t feel to push and to keep trying… urging me that I could do it… at one point (because she knew me well enough), getting me mad enough that I was finally able to push successfully (and thereby avoided forceps for my big-headed baby)

I was so upset that she wasn’t with me when I had my daughter, but again, I was so glad she was with me during the birth of my second son.

With my first son, because of the pre-eclampsia and stuff, only one person could be in the room with me. I wasn’t married back then and was on my own (dh not bio dad to my first son)…

I said that, with my second, if I could have had only one person, it would have been my MIL… even my dh totally understood that one… he knew she would be a lot more help than he was…

Also… when in pain (but doped up to try to relax before the epidural could be given… I think with demoral)… I was reaching for dh’s hand, but actually grabbed his balls… and he had to go outside for awhile after that… apparently I pulled pretty hard.